At 9.43pm on Monday 9 January 2023, Isis Central Sugar Mill’s longest-ever crushing season came to an end.
The 2022 season started eight days later than originally planned, on Tuesday 14 June, and ran for 209 days.
That’s not the only significant achievement.
While the numbers are still being finalised, ICSM processed the second highest season throughput volume in its 128-year history.
The Isis Mill crushed almost 1.423 million tonnes of cane with a seasonal average of 12.8 units of CCS.
The Isis cane supply regions supplied 860,121t and the Maryborough supply regions supplied 562,733t.
“To say it was a hard-fought campaign would be an understatement,” CEO Peter Hawe said.
“The effort of the ICSM workforce was nothing short of superhuman.
“They were flexible, job shared, worked longer hours, upskilled and trained new employees.
“This was all done with a sense of loyalty, ownership, and pride.”
Isis Mill season has its challenges
Mr Hawe said the season had its fair share of challenges, including road works delays and the impact of wet weather, with some locations receiving 1.5 metres of rainfall in the 2022 calendar year.
“The water table was full.
“Harvesting was a nightmare.
“Growers resorted to cane fires as a last resort to dry out large wet sprawled crops in muddy fields,” he said.
“They shared machinery and were patient, for the most part, while we used our best endeavours to harvest as much of the cane as possible.
“Harvest rotations, logistics, scheduling, and transport were altered every day.”
Mr Hawe said cane transport was impacted by the weather too.
“Wet weather and flash flooding damaged road and rail, which complicated arrangements and created logistic troubles and delays while repairs were carried out,” he said.
“The wet weather and muddy conditions also increased wear in the factory.
“However, the entire production team worked hard to make the best of a bad situation and achieved well above expectations.”
Isis Mill season record broken in 2012
The Isis Central Sugar Mill recorded its highest-ever season in 2012, at 1,505,399.64t.
